@Anil: Ground rules, my son, just ground rules. You wouldn't remember, but there was a time when it rang true. These are just reminders of those days when we were true; true to oneself and to the loved. It isn't asking too much of someone, if it isn't asking too much of oneself.

@NRIGirl: Do we know anything for certain? Seemingly strong relationships break down, death may part us - life is so fickle, isn't it? The questions asked and the answers to it may be true and meant fully, but if life were so predictable, then all the people who fell in love would remain faithful to each other throughout the rest of their lives!

What matters is the moment of true love. Whether it extends to 'moments' or a lifetime is beyond us. We can hope for it, but it need not necessarily happen...

@Anil, &Doc: Frankly, I pity you guys. I don't believe in love, Doc,as you may believe in God. I understand love, I have felt love. I don't need to believe. Experiencing Godliness is also something like that. You feel it, but you don't have to believe it and you don't need middlemen to interpret it either.

@B: 'that's what everyone say'? Who cares for that? Like i have said earlier, this feeling of love is akin to many such extreme state of emotion where the duality disappears and you get a glimpse, a taste, of bliss. The problem arise when you try to stretch it. For the likes of Anil and Doc, of course, it is beneath them even to accept that such feelings exist! :-)

"Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind, pity else are devoid of meaning.".Bertrand Russell

"But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.To know the pain of too much tenderness.To be wounded by your own understanding of love;And to bleed willingly and joyfully.To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;To return home at eventide with gratitude;And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips"

mr b @ i like your poems..dis one got all flavored with the short time that might only b there..none can be sure about how long the magic might last..till eternity as they say in romeo & juliet or for a day..